The following column is the opinion and analysis of the writer.
Federal immigration enforcement under the current administration in Washington has shocked and outraged Tucsonans. But Proposition 205, the βsanctuaryβ initiative, is not the answer.
If passed, Prop. 205 would harm our community in ways that have nothing to do with immigration. And, while intended to protect immigrants, it may actually make their situation worse.
There are parts of Prop. 205 that the city already does.
But there are other parts of this initiative that no city does β or would want to do.
Prop. 205 prohibits the Tucson Police Department from working with federal law enforcement agencies on any task force, operation, βor similar endeavorβ unless those agencies sign an agreement giving up some of their arrest authority within city limits. No federal agency is going to sign such an agreement.
This prohibition applies to all federal law enforcement agencies, not just those dealing with immigration.
So what would happen if Prop.β205 passed?
Task forces, operations and endeavors include law enforcement activities TPD currently engages in with the FBI, DEA, ATF and U.S. Marshals Service β all of which Prop. 205 would prohibit.
This means that TPD couldnβt work with the FBI to find missing and exploited children; couldnβt work with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force to protect children from online predators; couldnβt work with ATF to keep guns out of the hands of criminals; and couldnβt work with U.S. Marshals to catch fugitive felons.
Prop. 205 would also put TPDβs Department of Justice grants at risk β grants that currently pay for Spanish-speaking detectives to work on sexual assault and domestic violence cases, for DNA testing to clear a backlog of sexual assault kits, and for multiple other program and personnel needs.
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals recently held that the DOJ can award discretionary grant funding based in part on a cityβs immigration policies, and the City of Los Angeles lost funding as a result.
So, if Prop. 205 has such devastating impacts on public safety, what does it do for immigrants? Will it overturn SB 1070 and its βshow me your papersβ provision?
No. City law cannot overturn state law. The requirements of SB 1070 still stand, no matter how much we might wish them away. The way to overturn state law is at the state β or, in some cases, federal β level. Nationally, cities have little autonomy. And in Arizona, they have even less.
In Arizona, SB 1487 provides severe financial penalties for cities that pass ordinances in violation of state law. The state can take a cityβs state-shared revenue and redistribute it to other cities. In Tucson, thatβs more than $125 million a yearβover 20% of the cityβs General Fund, which pays for police and fire, parks and roads, and other core city services.
Parts of Prop. 205 clearly violate state law and, because itβs an initiative, the city council canβt βfixβ it to comply with state law. Only the voters can do that, and only by another ballot measure.
No city ordinance can stop the federal government from enforcing federal immigration law. Thatβs not how our system of government works. And with a vindictive, anti-immigrant administration in Washington, thereβs good reason to fear that a βsanctuaryβ label may result in a communityβs being targeted for increased federal immigration enforcement.
Proposition 205 may have started out with good intentions, but its harmful effects would be felt by everyoneβincluding the people it was meant to protect.